1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to safety products for a bathtub water dispensing spout. More particularly the present invention is directed to a bathtub water spout cover typically designed to prevent impact injuries among children and elderly associated with bumping against the hard metal spouts common in bathtubs.
2. Background Information
The bathroom represents an area of the home having a relatively higher risk of injury and, consequently many products have been designed to help minimize these risks. For example, existing bathtub water spout covers typically designed to prevent impact injuries among user's, such as children, disabled and elderly, associated with bumping against the hard metal spouts or faucets common in bathtubs. The existing spout covers are simply soft plastic sleeves that slide over the existing spout and have an opening that generally aligns with the spout opening. The existing spout covers are often in child friendly shapes, such as the form of a whale. The existing commercially viable spout covers essentially offer little more than impact resistance, when they are left in place, and a child friendly shape (the child friendly configuration can inhibit the safety functions by enticing the child to pull off the spout cover to play with in the bathtub).
The commercially available spout covers lose their effectiveness for impact resistance if they are removed by the child. Consequently, a more secure attachment would be beneficial. However, consumers prefer to be able to remove a protective cover at some point without significant difficulty. Consequently, any child proof attachment solution must be temporary and must also be cost effective. The cost effective aspect is critical to all aspects incorporated into a safety bath spout cover. Although consumers appreciate the risks associated with existing bath spouts for young children, these risks will be readily incurred by the consumers if the price of the associated bath spout cover is too high, and a bath spout cover that stays on the store shelf has absolutely no safety benefit.
Another safety concern with bathing small children is the danger of scalding the child with bath water that is too hot for young children. The danger of scalding is also present for other bath users, but children are more susceptible to this injury because their skin is thinner and they are more likely to make a user error when unaccompanied by an adult. Water temperature that is acceptable, even preferable to some adults, is dangerous to young children. Incorporating elements into a bath spout safety cover that addresses these safety issues will greatly increase the utility of the spout cover and the relative safety of the users. Again, any technological solution to this issue incorporated into a bath spout cover must be a cost effective solution for commercial acceptance.
Other issues to be addressed in bath spout designs are universal acceptance to the largest variety of commercially available bath spouts; minimizing germs, mold, mildew and other bacterial growth in what is commonly a warm wet environment that is very conducive for such growths; and providing easy attachment and removal by adults. Finally it needs to be stressed that any technological solution to these issues that are incorporated into a bath spout cover must be cost effective solutions, or they will not be used at all.
It is the objects of the present invention to address the deficiencies of the prior art bath spout covers discussed above and to do so in an efficient cost effective manner.